The 17 best ZBrush tutorials

ZBrush tutorials are widely available on the web, often for a cost but sometimes for free. The best ZBrush tutorials can help novice 3D artists to get started with the application, and more competent users to learn a new trick or two about some of the best 3D modelling software around.

But how do you separate the useful ZBrush tutorials from the ponderous or pointless? Well, we're here to filter out the dross for you. In this article you'll find our pick of the best ZBrush tutorials on the web. You'll find tips on everything from the basics you need to get started making 3D art, to specific tutorials to help you create fur, hair, fabric and more.

If you sign up for a free trial account with Pluralsight, you can access easy-to-follow suite of ZBrush tutorials that cover everything you need to learn more about the sculpting software. You'll start by doing on of Pluralsight's 'IQ' tests to determine your ZBrush skills, and ensure you start at the level suitable for you.

This course from online software training website Lynda introduces ZBrush to artists that are making a transition from another sculpting program. It covers the most popular tools and techniques for digital painting and sculpting in ZBrush. This course may be a few years old now, but the basic functions have not changed in this time, making this a great place to learn core skills. And with a free month's trial, you can get started at no cost.

There are few better places to get ZBrush tutorials than the Gnomon Workshop

The Gnomon Workshop offers a wide range of ZBrush tutorials, but you do need to pay a subscription fee to access them. If you're not sure, sign up for a three-day free trial, which should be enough time to try a few of them out. This training website doesn't just cover ZBrush: there are also tutorials for a whole host of other programmes, too.

Titouan Olive shows you how to use ZBrush to push your sculpts to the next level

In this tutorial, lead character artist Titouan Olive shows you how to use ZBrush to apply Hollywood model-making techniques without a Hollywood budget. There's a clear walkthrough to follow, plus handy videos to illustrate trickier points.

For this project, 3D artist Juan Martin Garcia Forn give some tips about how to model a Stormtrooper from the Star Wars franchise using all the best bits of Maya, ZBrush and Photoshop. He reveals how to plan the composition ahead of beginning the modelling, and how rendering proved the most challenging aspect. “Since I had a very clear idea of how the final image should look, the lighting and camera angles had to be planned before the execution,” he tells 3D World. “Everything was then pretty easy thanks to KeyShot's very friendly interface.”

This tutorial is ideal for those who want to look beyond the easy option of downloading free 3D models and learn how to sculpt realistic anatomy using ZBrush. ZBrush provides you with the much-needed freedom required when shaping forms – perfect for this type of sculpting.

You'll already be aware that we're pretty obsessed with H.R. Giger's alien, thanks to our previous sci-fi design features. Here, you'll discover how to reincarnate the alien character using various ZBrush tools such as the ZSketch feature.

Discover how to sculpt realistic fine details to complete an alien creature’s face

Darrell Abney demonstrates how he sculpted the face of his creature, Worgrock, to help you learn how to create a 3D alien pirate character. Abney chose ZBrush as his main weapon of choice due to its “many sculpting tools, and generally being fun to sculpt with”, but he also uses Maya, Substance Painter and V-Ray in this tips feature.

Not just for video game design, creating tiling mesh is a useful skill

Tiling meshes are helpful for creating video game environments. This tutorial is particularly effective when it comes to those little details on cliff faces and rocks. It's important to get these looking realistic and this step-by-step guide will help you to do just that.

If you're after a way to make your 3D models more interesting, making them walk or hold an object can work wonders. ZBrush has a wide range of tools to help with this, with various posing processes to choose from. This tutorial runs through exactly what those processes are and drops in some tips to ensure you get it right.

Paul Gaboury demonstrates PolyPaint in conjunction with PolyGroupIt, first by creating the helmet panels on a character head sculpt by artist James Cain, then by adding gold panelling to a ring created by Nacho Riesco Gostanza.